Breckenridge Odyssey of the Mind team reaches World Finals

By the Midland Daily News

Published 5:00 am, Monday, May 6, 2013

For the fifth straight year, a Breckenridge Odyssey of the Mind team will be competing in the World Finals. This year the high school team coached by Lisa Gregory qualified to represent the state of Michigan at the World Finals at Michigan State University from May 22-25.

They earned this honor by placing second at the state tournament in Traverse City on April 13. In order to reach the World Finals, a team has to finish first or second in their regional competition and at the state tournament.

The team competed in a problem called “Pet Project.” Their solution included three vehicles that delivered parts. One of vehicles was a hovercraft and its costumes included a large zebra and a 9-foot-tall giraffe.

The World Finals will feature teams from Odyssey programs across the globe and each problem will have 40 to 60 teams competing for the world championship for their problem and division. There will be teams from more than 30 states and many foreign teams from places such as like Mexico, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Poland and Taiwan.

This will be the fourth world competition for some members of the Breckenridge team, and for others their second or third. Members Dom Gutierrez, Lindsay Hoard, Holly Gregory, Dillan Anschutz and Emily Chapin first attended when they were in middle school in 2009. The team didn’t qualify in 2010, when an elementary team carried the Breckenridge banner, but the team has made it to world tournament for the past three years. They have been joined by Emylie Short and Austin Brittain, who will be making their second and third appearances, respectively, at the event. Brittain qualified with a middle school team in 2011 and Short joined him last year in the high school competition at College Park, Md.